Ensenada court to announce verdict on October 9 — ABC News Australia

A court in Ensenada, Mexico, will announce its verdict on October 9 in the case concerning the deaths of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their friend from the United States, Carter Rhoad. Judge Raúl Hernández Arellano changed his schedule after the brothers’ mother, Debra Robinson, asked for the decision to be announced before her planned return to Australia.

According to ABC News Australia, closing arguments are to take place on October 8 local time. The judge said he would announce the verdict at 10:00 on October 9 — less than a day after closing arguments and shortly before the Robinsons’ flight home.

The family’s request

Debra Robinson and her husband Martin attended hearings almost every day from the start of the trial. She thanked the judge for the time and attention devoted to the case and explained that the couple had tickets to Australia for October 9.

Robinson told the judge that it would be very important for her and her husband, as Callum and Jake’s parents, to be present when the verdict is announced. She added that the family had come from far away to seek justice for their sons and Carter.

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After the verdict is announced, the parents are also expected to address the court with a final statement. Outside the courthouse, Debra Robinson thanked people in Australia and other countries for their support and said that the family would not comment on the course of the trial before the verdict out of respect for the court and its procedures.

Charges in the case

For four weeks in Ensenada, Jesús Gerardo, known as El Kekas, Irineo Francisco, and Ángel Jesús have been standing trial. They have been charged with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, violent robbery, and unlawful taking of a vehicle.

Prosecutors claim that the three men were killed during a robbery that went wrong. The defense insists that there is insufficient evidence to support this version. The bodies of the Robinson brothers and Rhoad were found at the bottom of a well in the state of Baja California on Mexico’s Pacific coast after they disappeared during a surfing trip in 2024.

The defense declined to question two key witnesses — a mother and son whose names have not been disclosed because they are under witness protection.